Unexpected! Golden Equipment That Looked Good but Was Useless!

Asagiri Kazuya looked at Yamaguchi Hirota.

"So, what did Kondo say?"

Yamaguchi Hirota's expression was a little strange.

"She... she said she and Akita were both fine inside, and told us to leave first."

Asagiri Kazuya was dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

"They're fine?"

"If they're fine, why don't they come out for a walk?"

His brows twisted into a knot.

"And wasn't she going in to bring Sana out? Why did she end up staying in there herself?"

"Could it be... could it be?!"

Yamaguchi Hirota's face stiffened, and he immediately cut him off. "What are you even thinking?!"

"She and Natsume have been childhood friends to begin with. She found an excuse to go in, so isn't it normal for them to catch up?"

Asagiri Kazuya nodded sheepishly.

"You're right... I was overthinking it."

After a pause, he asked again, "But now... are we really just leaving like this?"

Yamaguchi Hirota shrugged helplessly.

"What else can we do? Force our way in?"

"And we don't know when they'll come out. Even if they do, they'll probably just go straight home.

"Since that's the case, there's no point in us staying here."

"Let's go to the arcade instead."

Though Asagiri Kazuya was still worried, there was nothing else they could do for now.

"All right..."

Over the next while,

the atmosphere in the living room was unusually harmonious.

The girls gathered together to chat and draw manga.

Natsume Chikage continued tinkering with his computer.

Quite a few people went over to check on him at different times.

Some were simply curious, while others wanted to strike up a conversation.

He responded to each of them with a smile.

Kondo Miki, however... rarely took the initiative to speak to Natsume Chikage.

Most of the time, she merely sat quietly at the small table,